Remembrance
by JeiC
Summary: An old man tells his youngest granddaughter the last remaining memories he has of a time that only he is left to remember. Deathfic and is set to One Tin Soldier.


Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha and I don't own the song "One Tin Soldier" – the lyrics I grabbed are by Coven so if there's a difference from others you've heard, I apologize now.  
Author's note: I'm so mean…I'm not like this normally, I swear – I like happy fics, I just don't seem to write any. *pouts* Anyway, if you really don't like having main characters killed off, stop right here and turn around.  
Warnings: angst, deathfic, OOC  
  
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Remembrance

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*by JeiC  
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I walk side by side with my youngest granddaughter – she's such a beautiful young woman. Soon she'll be getting ready to take a mate. Yui is the most curious of the tales of the adventures I had long before her mother had been born. Same curiosity as her mother…  
"Grandpa, could you tell me the whole story of your adventures when you were younger. I'm all grown up now, I think I can handle the whole thing." She smiles at me – such a sweet and innocent smile. Even though she is as she says, I can't bear the thought of telling her the whole thing – it still pains me to this day.  
Perhaps I can persuade her, "You wouldn't want to hear the stories of an old, senile man like me. There isn't much left to tell anyway."  
Oh no, that look. "You have never told me EVERYTHING – you always left out important parts or softened the tale. Please, grandpa, I want to know what REALLY happened."  
I sigh, defeated. Signaling for her to take a seat along the river's shore, I take comfort from the glistening water before warning her, "Yui, I hope you realize what you ask for – in it's true form, it's a horrible tale, but I guess I've hidden behind the good times long enough. You're right, you're old enough to hear this."  
  


_Listen children to a story that was written long ago  
'bout a kingdom on a mountain, and the valley far below  
On the mountain was a treasure, buried deep beneath the stone  
And the valley people swore they'd have it for their very own_

  
Across the shore I can see their graves – graves that I made so long ago and have tended ever since. "The Shikon Shards…everyone wanted them – even myself once upon a time, but that's another story," I hush her before she can make my tale even longer. "Most of all, a terrifying creature named…"  
"Naraku – you've told me about him. Wasn't he some kind of weird hanyou?"  
I can't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "Yes, you're right. And all this time I thought you tuned me out."  
My teasing creates a rather comical response out of her, "You know I listened. I listened better than even mom did."  
"Of course you did," I agree as I ruffle her bangs. So beautiful – how could I possibly tell this gorgeous young woman such a tragic tale? I guess the same way I've never been able to deny her, or any of my children, grandchildren or great grandchildren anything. "Demons were always after us for them. Especially their keeper – a young miko from another world named…"  
"Kagome – you said she came through the Bone Eater's Well into our world and was able to use it to pass back and forth from her world to ours."  
I nod. "I was always sad when she left for her world for her tests – before I met your grandmother, she was the only person that I really thought cared about me for who I was and not what I could do for them. The others were there as a support, but there was something different about Kagome."  
"Grandpa…"  
"Yes, yes, I know, I'm getting off track." I sigh slightly, can't help thinking about Kagome sometimes. I feel guilty because the others were just as important to me in my life – even if I never said it. "Naraku planted another trap for all of us. These traps were getting old so seeing through it wasn't so hard. Getting out of it, well…"  
  


_Go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend  
Do it in the name of heaven, you can justify it in the end  
There won't be any trumpets blowing, come the judgment day  
On the bloody morning after…  
One tin soldier rides away_

  
"He got Kikyo involved somehow. He controlled her – miko powers and all."  
I feel a slight tug on my sleeve. "She was the one that had been brought back from the dead, right? Kikyo was really overly obsessive about…and thought she was in love with…"  
"Yes, that's her as you so plainly put it." Her description of the undead priestess brings a small smile to my face – only through a child's eyes. "But you know, I never thought poorly of her. She was the guardian of the Shikon no Tama before Kagome after all. No matter how many times she interfered and played with the minds of everyone in our group, I couldn't come to hate her. She was pretty – not as pretty as Kagome, and certainly not more beautiful than my little Yui."  
I can't help but laugh as a blush appears brightly on her face.  
"But that day…that day, I would be the last one standing. It all started with a simple invitation from a nearby nobleman…"  
  


_So the people of the valley sent a message up the hill, asking for the buried treasure  
Tons of gold for which they'd kill  
Came an answer from the kingdom, "With our brothers we will share"  
"All the treasures of the mountain and the riches buried there"_

  
"He promised us a place to stay for a few days, meals, and a small reward if we would exorcise a youkai for him…"  
"And of course you managed to find a huge ugly youkai with big glowing eyes and monstrous drooling fangs!" She says standing up with her hand in the air, "And your group managed to trap and destroy this evil presence, right?" Yui plops back down on the grass and stares at me with big eyes. I think she's doing this so that I don't fall into myself again like I did so many years ago after their deaths.  
I tap her gently on the forehead. "Silly. Normally, you would be right, but it was a small youkai and it managed to run off…"  
"So how does Kikyo fit into all of this?"  
I was just about to get to that part… "She had been 'invited' also. Naraku had set the whole place up. We were on alert since the moment we received our invitation. At her arrival, it turned into an all out war. She was furious at the site of Kagome never mind what she saw as the completed Shikon no Tama dangling off her backpack."  
"What about Naraku?" Dead seriousness permeates her voice as if she plans on setting out if the bastard isn't dead and in several million pieces.  
  


_Now the valley cried with anger  
"Mount your horses, draw your sword!"  
And they killed the mountain people  
So they won their just reward_

  
Glancing across at the graves again, I take a slow breath before continuing, "He showed up in person shortly after the battle with Kikyo had started. We were split up – half fighting Naraku, and the rest fighting Kikyo. Kagome's powers were greater than the undead miko and soon Kikyo fell to one of her magically enhanced arrows." Here I have to stop for a few moments and in that time Yui becomes worried.  
"Grandpa, is everything okay? I mean…"  
"No…" I snap slightly and then soften my tone quickly, "No, you wanted to hear my story, and I have to tell someone. I have to tell the whole thing – if not for my sake then for theirs. No one to this day truly knows what happened and it's not fair for me to leave this world without telling their tale."  
"What are you talking about? You're fine, you're not leaving this earth anytime soon. Please don't go grandpa. I want you to be around when I get married. Please." I look into her pleading eyes.  
"I'm sorry, my little Yui. I guess my age is wearing on me, but you are right, I'm not going anywhere for a long time. I'll still be around and kicking when you take a mate and give me more great grandchildren." I elbow her in the side gently.  
"Grandpa!"  
Putting my hands up I switch back to the topic of earlier, "Naraku also saw the completed jewel on her backpack and tried to kill everything in his path to get to it. They had no chance against him in his wild state. Soon, they fell also, but not before mortally wounding him. I was closest to the backpack and he fell at my feet clutching the chain and pulling it free of its confines."  
  


_Now they stood beside the treasure, on the mountain dark and red  
Turned the stone and looked beneath it…  
"Peace on Earth" was all it said_

  
"The stupid thing was what Kagome called a keychain from her time. I had the real shards and only a couple to boot. He had given up his chunk figuring it was a trap set by Kikyo, who had given the chunk of shards to him, and that is what gave the others the chance to take him down with them." I stop long enough to wipe tears from my eyes. "Later, after the shock wore off, I burned his body and spread the ashes across the land. It took me awhile, but with the help of some of the villagers who had come up upon hearing the rumors – I buried them here. Between the Bone Eater's Well, the Goshinboku tree, and the village…as close to the river as I could. I did that because I remembered how much Kagome liked traveling on the boat. So now, you know the whole story." I get up and begin walking towards the small bridge I built when arms wrap around me and I find the young one I was speaking with in my own arms.  
"Grandpa!" She starts crying into my robe. "You…you left something out." Yui states as soon as she pulls herself together. "What happened to the Shikon no Tama?"  
Looking across the river, I reply, "I destroyed them."  
"But…but couldn't you have made a wish on them? Couldn't you have reversed everything – made it so that they were alive again?" Yui tugs roughly on my robes.  
Pushing tear soak tendrils of hair out of her face, "They never answered my prayers."  
"Oh…I…I'm sorry grandpa. I should get going…mom's gonna want me to help with supper."  
I nod as she runs off. Time passes quickly as I make sure each of the graves is perfectly kept. I'm sorry I lied to you, my little Yui.  
  


_Go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend  
Do it in the name of heaven, you can justify it in the end  
There won't be any trumpets blowing, come the judgment day  
On the bloody morning after…  
One tin soldier rides away_

  
Pulling out the completed Shikon no Tama I glance at its pure beauty. I can't use it – even for them…ever. It only brings pain and suffering to all those who seek its power.  
I turn at my wife's call. "Shippo, it's time for dinner."  
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Fin  
September 2002  
*by JeiC  
Comments?  
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